3rd July

I went with some of the family to  the open day at the excellent High Batts private nature reserve near North Stainley today. A good mix of things here for the kids with small mammal trapping (such as this Wood Mouse)…

Some rescued bats. This is a Brown Long-eared…

There was also Pipistrelle and a Noctule, the largest bat we get in the North. The bat conservation person was using a bat detector to show this individual was echo locating. Although thinking about it it’s obvious what I was surprised to see was the Noctule’s mouth moving each time it sent out one of its ‘pings’.

There was also pond dipping, this is the larva of some species of hawker dragonfly…

And bird ringing including this young Lesser Whitethroat....

Back in the parish it’s pretty quiet although the bottom field pools had another(?) Green Sandpiper on along with three Oystercatcher and this young Lapwing vainly trying to hide right by the footpath…

In the Magic Garden the Reed Warbler was last heard on 30^th June. There’s a slim chance it has found a mate and gone quiet but I think it’s more likely it’s moved on. I also got a single poor shot of the Little Grebe on its nest. 

I didn’t want to get any closer as it hops off the nest at the least disturbance, although never before covering the eggs with water weed to disguise them…